Fluid-pressure generator



(No Model.) v

J. H.A NGLAN.

PLUIE; PRESSURE GENERATOR. No. 495,140. Patented Apr. 11, 1893..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. NOLAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLUID-PRESSURE GENERATOR.

SPCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,140, dated April 11, 1893.

Application tiled August Z1, 1891. Serial No. 403,352. (No model.) i

To a/ZZ whom t may concern.:

Be it known that JOHN H. NOLAN, of Boston, county of Suffolk, and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in 5 Fluid-Pressure Generators, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specication, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to Huid pressure generators to be used for producing an elastic iiuid under pressure to be used as motive power for driving engines or for analogous purposes, the said pressure being produced by chemical action of materials which commonly act as explosives, and which in accordance with the present invention produce gases under high pressure which are confined in a suit- "able holder or reservoir from which they are drawn to be used as motive power.

The invention consists mainly in appliances for automatically controlling theintroduction of the explosive materials in accordance with the pressure produced and maintained in the reservoir, so that when said pressure falls below the desired amount, asis the case when the consumption is rapid, the charges of explosive material will be increased; and on the other hand when the pressure rises said charges will be diminished, and when the pressure reaches the desired maximum will be wholly cut off until pressure again falls below the predetermined maximum 0r normal amount.

The appliances for actuating and controlling the introduction and ignition or detonationof the materials are connected with the engine or motor so as to work in unison therewith; but the engine itself is not herein shown, as its specific construction forms no part of the invention, forV myV invention may be employed in connection with an engine or Inotor of any suitable construction adapted to be driven by an elastic fluid.

Figure 1 shows in vertical section a fluid pressure generator embodying this invention, the parts being shown rather in diagram to illustrate their functions and relation to one another, than in actual working proportions. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 asectional detail on line as, Fig. l; Fig. 4 a sectional detail on line y, Fig. 1, enlarged, and Fig. 5 a sectional detail showing a modification of the introducing apparatus.

The apparatus comprises a reservoir or receptacle a to contain the gases generated, Vwhich reservoir should be of proper material and construction to give the strength required to sustain the high pressures that are to be produced, which pressures will vary according tol circumstances but will generally be much greater than steam pressures commonly used. The said reservoir u, may be yprovided at any desired point with a disshaft b being the same as the stroke of the.

engine piston when a reciprocating engine is employed.

The apparatus may be supplied with any suitable chemicals, which before the chemical reaction or explosion occupy a comparatively small volume and which when properly mixed and ignited suddenly evolve a large volume of gas.

The present invention does not relate to the specific chemical compound used and is not limited to any specific explosive compound, but is shown as adapted to operate with a mixture of three materials introduced through pipes c, c2, c3, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, into a mixing and receiving chamber d, communicating with the barrel or cylinder e of a pump or forcing apparatus shown in this instance as containing a pistonf, see Fig. l, actuated from the shaft b,.the rod f2 of said piston being shown in this instance as connected with one end of a lever f3 the other one of which is connected with an eccentric rod f4 driven from the main shaft h the said piston f thus making one to and fro movement to each rotation of the shaft b which may be so connected with the engine as to make a cornplete rotation at each single stroke of the engi ne piston, or in any other desired proportion.

The barrel of the injecting pump or forcing apparatus communicates with the interior of the reservoir a and suitable valves d2, e2, are provided to cause the material to flow only from the mixing or receiving chamber d into IOO the barrel e, and from the latter into the res ervolr ct said valves being shown as inwardly opening check valves. If the pistonf had a u nlform stroke, equal amounts of the explosive materials Would be introduced at each stroke, but as the draft of the elastic fluid from the reservoir a will depend upon the amount of Work done by the engine and may consequently vary Widely, means are provided .for varying the amount of material introduced in accordance With the requirements at any time. As shown in this instance'the meansfor varying theamount introduced comprlses a shifting fulcrum g for the lever f3 by Which the piston f and shaft b are connected,said fulcrum being formed upon a carriage or slide g2 movable upon a guide gaand connected with a rod 7L connected with a piston or equivalent device h2 working in a cyllnder h3 or otherwise subjected to the pressure of the Huid in the reservoir ct said cylinder being shown as communicat-ing With said reservoir through a pipel h4. The said piston h2orits rod his acted upon by a counterbalancingforceshown inthisinstance asaweight''so set as to about`balance the force on the piston h2 derived from the gas in the reservoir a when at the normal pressure it is intended tocarry, so that a slight increase in pressure above the normal moves the piston h2 doWnWardand shifts thefulcrum g ofthe leverf3 in such manner as to lengthen the arm of the said lever connected'with the actuator]4 and :shorten the arm connected With the piston rod f2 thus making the strokes of the piston shorter, and also more powerful as is desirable owing to the fact that the material has to be forced i-nto' the receiver against a greater back pressure. When on the other hand the pressure inthe reservoir diminishes, the pressure piston yh2 moves upward under the force of the Weight h5 which is not quite counterbalanced by such reduced pressure, such upward movement shifting the fulcrum g so :as to lengthen the yarm of the lever connected with the piston f2 and shorten the arm connected With the actuatorf4 thus increasing the length of stroke of the piston so that it forces a larger volume of material into the reservoir at each stroke.

The supply pipes'or ducts c, c2, c3, which convey the several materials of the compound to the mixing chambers d may be made of such size relative to one another as to deliver the materials in the requisite proportions, and as a further safeguard toward controlling the admission of the materials inaccordance With the pressure inthe said reservoir said ducts are provided With stop cocks or controlling valves t' the operating arms of which are connected with the rod h that is responsive to changes in pressure in the reservoir a said rod being shown in this instance as having an arm i2 connected by links 3 With the operating arms i4 of the several stop cocks so that the said stop cocks are opened or closed in proportion as the piston 71, moves down or In order to provide for the proper ignition or explosion of the materials after they are introduced into the reservoira the said reservoir is provided with a receiver t5 shown as a pan or cup having a depressed portion 126, see Fig. 4, in its bottom into which thematerial flows as it enters from the .pump barrele and in which it may be confined if necessary in order to produce the proper explosive act-ion by a movable cover k pivoted or hinged at k2 so that it may be thrown open by the .gases evolved when the explosion takes place.

A suitable bunter or yielding stop la-is provided to receive the impact of the cover, Which falls back by g-ravityimmediately after the explosion hastaken place and the pressure around it becomes ,equalized The ignition or detonation may beeffected bythe action of electricity in any usual manner, suitable wires m being shown as introduced-at W12-said Wires including a suitable circuit closer .or connector m3, actuated by a projection f 5 carried by the eccentric rod f4 or otherwise actuated from the shaft b at the proper time to apply the current after t-he charges have been introduced by the stroke of the pistonf. Preferably a number of iguiting or detonating Wires are employed so as toafford certainty of operation in caseany of said wires should become damaged orL inoperative.

In order to protect the receiver or ig'niting vessel 5 t6 from being too strongly heated .by the explosives, the reservoir ais kept supplied with Water as shown at n up to a level sufficient to partially immerse `and cover the outer surface of said exploding receptacle. The body of water being below` the point at which .the heat is applied will not` be heated to a very high temperature-although small portionsy of the Water Will be heated and evaporated at the upper surface forming steam which Wi-ll mix with the other elastic fluid and pass out through the `delivery pipe a2. Another function of theW-ater'is to absorb such products of combustion as are not gaseous, and thereby permitting of the WithdraWal of such absorbed matter through the discharge pipe u.

The supplyv of Water may be maintained by a pump or other forcing apparatusas indicated at p which may be actuated from the engine shaft or otherwise, and driven continuously or. intermittingly as may Vbe required in order to keep the Water at proper level.

My open pan as an explosive receiver dif- IOO IIO

fers from those receivers heretofore used and which are closed excepting for an outlet valve in several important particulars, some of which I will proceed now to mention. In the first place, the gas or gases generated by the explosion expand directly into the reservoir, and hence the open receiver, not having to resist the pressure of a confined volume of expanding gas, may be made much lighter and more cheaply than those valved receivers which are closed save for the valve. In the latter class of receivers, the explosion occurring in a chamber closed save for its valve, the gases expand in said chamber and the latter must be made of sucient strength to resist the consequent pressure. In my receiver the cover does not act to confine the 'exploded material, it has no eect in resisting escape of the gases generated by such explosion, but, on the contrary, serves simply to confine or locate the unexploded material for exploding purposes, and the first effect of the explosion is to lift the cover and letfree the gases directly into the reservoir.

The reservoir ct may be provided with vall appliances that are necessary or convenient for apparatus of this kind, such for example as a safety valve indicated at r, the pressure gage indicated at t and a blow olf or discharge pipe indicated at u.

The invention is not limited to the details of mechanism thus far described, which may be widely varied without departing from the invention, the essential features of which consist mainly in appliances for introducing the explosive compound into the reservoir, and co-operating appliances responsive to changes in pressure in said reservoir for governing the said introducing apparatus as described and thereby controlling the amount of explosive materials introduced.

The introducing appliances shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are especially adapted for introducing materials that are liquid or semi-duid in their nature. In case dry powder or granulated materials are to be introduced, the construction shown in Fig. 5, may be employed, the inlet or supply duct 010, being controlled by shut o slides @'10, i12, so actuated that the former remains closed while the latter is being opened and closed, after which the lower slide @'10, is opened and permits the charge of material that has been contained betweenthe slides to fall into the introducing cylinder cw, from which it is carried forward by the introducing plunger f 10, to the point where the explosion takes place. The said plunger in its forward movement closes the lower end of the supply duct and thus cuts off communication between it and the reservoir while the explosion is taking place. In this construction the introducing plunger f 10, may have a uniform stroke and the amount of charge is varied in accordance with the pressure in the reservoir by making one of the slides as 12, movable toward and from the other slide, as the pressure rises and falls, the slide 1.2 being As already stated, the apparatus is capable n of use with any suitable gas-producing agent, but I prefer a mixture of two parts of carbonbisulphide and three parts of nitrogen-tetroxide or nitrogen-protoxide, or I may use in place of the carbon-bisulphide, benzole, petroleum, ether, mineral volatile oils or other liquid or solid carbonaceous materials, or I may use Sprengels explosive. v l

I claiml. The combination with the reservoir and means for introducing gas-generating material therein, of a receiver arranged within the reservoir and composed of the pan or cup 'i5 open at the top and having the depressed portion i6 and the movable self-closing coverk, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the reservoir and means for introducing gas-generating; material therein, of a receiver arranged Within the reservoir and composed of the pan or cup i5 open at the top and having the depressed portion 2', the movable self-closing cover lo, and the spring bunter k3, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the reservoir and means for introducing gas-generating material therein, of a receiver arranged within the reservoir and composed of the pan or cup 5 open at the top and having the depressed portion i6 and the movable self-closing cover k, the said depressed portion of the pan and the parts immediately adjacent thereto being submerged in a cooling agent, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the reservoir, an exploding chamber therein, an injecting pump having a piston, supply pipes for said pump, valves in said supply pipes, a lever having one arm connected to said piston and the other with any suitable actuator, a movable fulcrum for said lever, the position of which is varied in accordance with variations in pressure in said reservoir, and connections between said movable fulcrum and the valves in the supply pipes, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the reservoirwith an injecting pump and actuating mechanism for the piston thereof, comprising a lever having one arm connected with said piston and the other with the actuator, a movable fulcrum for said lever the posit-ion of which is varied in accordance with variations in pressure in said reservoir, substantially as` and for the purpose described.

In testimony -whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN H. NOLAN.

Witnesses:

, Jos. P. LIVERMORE,

M E. HILL.

Ioo 

